Realistic or Negative Main Character?

DaVince · Feb 24, 2012

In my current story, the MC is a sort of grumpy person. But with a justified backstory for that personality.

A part of my story plot is about the MC developing and ending with him getting a better perspective on life.

However, do readers prefer more posetive main characters over negative or realistic? And what would classify as a negative or realistic personality?

missesdash · Feb 24, 2012

Your character doesn't need to be likable, only sympathetic. As in, readers have to care about what happens to him/her even if they don't like him/her as a person.

And don't get stuck on false dichotomies like positive versus negative and realistic. Real people are multifaceted. Making someone more positive or negative in their worldview doesn't make them more or less realistic.

Also, as with any trait, you'll want to avoid repetition. Sure your character can be grumpy, but we don't need to hear every single negative thought he or she thinks. It gets tiring.

Also, I see you're new. Welcome to AW

totopink · Feb 24, 2012

I usually prefer reading negative/realistic characters as you put it. An MC who is constantly positive is not something I can relate to.
However, I don't think a reader will mind about the characters' disposition if they're written in such a way that makes the reader care about them.

jmlee · Feb 24, 2012

I don't have any problems reading about negative, pessimistic or grouchy characters as long as the character isn't really proud of his or herself for being that way. As in... "Hi, I'm a character. Welcome to my book. I'm kind of an asshole, but I don't care. Get over it. This is my book and I'm an asshole so I can be a jerk and it's awesome." This always reads to me like the author is in love with their asshole character and is trying to show him or her off. And then I shut the cover and say bye bye.

Mandiloo322 · Feb 25, 2012

missesdash said:
Your character doesn't need to be likable, only sympathetic. As in, readers have to care about what happens to him/her even if they don't like him/her as a person.

This!

As long as the character is compelling (as in, he's a person in a situation that we want to keep reading about) it doesn't matter if he's a glass half empty or half full person. We just want to follow his journey through his life's struggles.

For example, I think Katniss is a negative person but I still read the entire trilogy of the Hunger Games.

Hope this helps.

And welcome to AW!

EzzyAlpha · Feb 25, 2012

I very much prefer optimistic idealistic characters but I can still like grumps if they are written correctly.

It's about the subtle nuances and various sides of your character. Demonstrate he has more than one mood.

bzMac · Feb 25, 2012

Ha! I asked the same question some time ago and got a lot of really insightful responses. (here if you're interested)

I prefer realistic, rational MCs, but I'm not completely adverse to the other two. It depends on how they're written.

What I did was take the advice of some of the answers and created a more sympathetic character. My MC acts tough but really isn't so it was important to show that weakness so that readers still cared what happened to her. It was also suggested that I use humor to mellow her out, but I'm not a really funny person. You might find it useful though.

As a reader I don't necessarily have to like a character, but I do have to be vested in how things turn out. The first few books of the Artemis Fowl series feature an obnoxious MC, but I still couldn't put them down. Speak is a good example too. That MC is depressed, but the text is kept from feeling to heavy through the use of humor.

PoppysInARow · Feb 25, 2012

missesdash said:
Your character doesn't need to be likable, only sympathetic. As in, readers have to care about what happens to him/her even if they don't like him/her as a person.

And don't get stuck on false dichotomies like positive versus negative and realistic. Real people are multifaceted. Making someone more positive or negative in their worldview doesn't make them more or less realistic.

Also, as with any trait, you'll want to avoid repetition. Sure your character can be grumpy, but we don't need to hear every single negative thought he or she thinks. It gets tiring.

Also, I see you're new. Welcome to AW

This. All this.

If you want to read a book with a "grumpy" MC, Kody Keplinger's The DUFF has a MC that's rather cynical. If you look at how she wrote it, she focused on making Bianca sympathetic, rather than likeable, as missesdash said.

LindsayM · Feb 27, 2012

missesdash said:
Your character doesn't need to be likable, only sympathetic. As in, readers have to care about what happens to him/her even if they don't like him/her as a person.

And don't get stuck on false dichotomies like positive versus negative and realistic. Real people are multifaceted. Making someone more positive or negative in their worldview doesn't make them more or less realistic.

Also, as with any trait, you'll want to avoid repetition. Sure your character can be grumpy, but we don't need to hear every single negative thought he or she thinks. It gets tiring.

Also, I see you're new. Welcome to AW

Just piling on to agree with missesdash - she nailed it.

micahcannibal · Mar 2, 2012

If there is not a likeable characteristic about their character, i couldn't care less what happened to them UNLESS they make a good villain.

But for a Protag/main character they need to be likeable not just sympathetic because who reads a book of a character that you hate. No matter what happens to them you're like "Oh, that sucks that he/she was raped or in a bad accident but i still don't care because i hate them."

Realistic character shave amazing awesome traits that make us love them but flaws that make them more human and relateable and not completely hated.

LAgrunion · Mar 2, 2012

I just think of a positive character as someone I like, a negative character as someone I dislike. A subjective, intuitive response.

For me, I just like to read a good, interesting story. I don't really care all that much about positive vs. negative character.

It also depends on what kind of story you're writing. If it's a love story, it's more satisfying if the couple is likable. Nobody really wants to root for a jerk to receive a happy ending. In Cinderella, we want the nice girl (and not the evil stepsisters) to get the prince, right?

If the story is, say, a thriller or horror, I'm not sure the likability of the character is all that crucial. I just want to be excited or scared by the action/plot. I've never liked James Bond because he seems like a prick, but I still like the 007 stories because they are exciting and fun.

In your case, it sounds like character development is important. It's easier to show growth with a person who starts out negative and ends up positive.

I guess you could also go the other way, from positive to negative. But then that's not really growth, more of a regression. This would happen in a story where, for example, the central theme is about the downward spiral of a character. A story entirely different in tone from a "growth story," but it can still be a compelling read.

LadyA · Mar 2, 2012

micahcannibal said:
But for a Protag/main character they need to be likeable not just sympathetic because who reads a book of a character that you hate. No matter what happens to them you're like "Oh, that sucks that he/she was raped or in a bad accident but i still don't care because i hate them."

I see your point, but I'm going to have to disagree. If I read a book where the protag wasn't likeable, but were sympathetic, and they were "raped or in a bad accident" I would still care, and that might well make me even more sympathetic towards them.

For example, the protag of Courtney Summers' CRACKED UP TO BE says some horrible things, is generally a b*tch to a lot of people, but she is that way because of certain things in her past, and she is a very sympathetic character.

woodtop255 · Mar 11, 2012

That's interesting to hear other reactions about negative MCs. I had submitted a few partials (first three chapters) and one of the complaints I heard was my MC's sarcasm and defensiveness made her too unlikable. But as the story progresses and she grows, I feel she becomes more "heroic" in the way the agents have described.

Ashes Oh Ashes · Mar 11, 2012

Just make sure your character doesn't go all "Woah is me". That tends to kill sympathy pretty quickly.

e.l · Mar 12, 2012

As long as you don't mean he spends ninety out of every hundred words angsting, I wouldn't mind. I actually like characters who are negative.

micahcannibal said:
But for a Protag/main character they need to be likeable not just sympathetic because who reads a book of a character that you hate. No matter what happens to them you're like "Oh, that sucks that he/she was raped or in a bad accident but i still don't care because i hate them."

You might not like "unlikable" characters, but the same cannot be said of everyone. Personally, I love characters who are generally unlikable if they're in the Protagonist spot. However, if you're going to start with an unlikable MC, they have to be interesting enough for readers such as this person to draw them in.

woodtop255 · Mar 12, 2012

Maybe flawed, but still likable is an important distinction for a MC

missesdash · Mar 12, 2012

Patrick Bateman is a pretty great example of an MC that isn't "likable" but still interesting to read. A lot of the characters in trangressive fiction fit that bill.

DahlELama · Mar 12, 2012

LadyA said:
For example, the protag of Courtney Summers' CRACKED UP TO BE says some horrible things, is generally a b*tch to a lot of people, but she is that way because of certain things in her past, and she is a very sympathetic character.

This is exactly the example that came to my mind. Parker comes off as pretty terrible, but somehow, I just couldn't stop liking her and wanting to read more about her. Her negativity came out in her reactions, expressions, and dialogue--all of which were funny and no just bitter--versus my having to read blocks of narrative about how much life sucks. She was nasty, but I wouldn't have called her bitter, which I feel like is the defining negative emotion in so many YA novels. It made her so much more charismatic and fun to read.

MKrys · Mar 12, 2012

missesdash said:
Your character doesn't need to be likable, only sympathetic. As in, readers have to care about what happens to him/her even if they don't like him/her as a person.

Exactly!

Maxinquaye · Mar 12, 2012

Yeah, I'll join the pile-on. My first novel is about a fourteen year old antisocial loner with all thorns out toward everyone. If you met him in real life, he'd be belligerent and offensive toward you. He'd shut you down from trying to befriend him, and if he thought you were a threat, he'd probably try to solve things with violence. In the beginning, he mauls a group of bullies. That's basically the inciting incident of the story.

"Get away from me, now, you wanker", is pretty much his outlook.

Is that likeable? No. Is it interesting? Yeah it is, because of the reasons why he's like this. Having access to his thoughts and emotions, you get why he's like that.

Your job is not to make a person likeable. Your job is to make a character interesting. I mean, on a scale of 1 - 100, how likeable is the protagonist of Nabokov's "Lolita" exactly?

The_Ink_Goddess · Mar 15, 2012

DahlELama said:
This is exactly the example that came to my mind. Parker comes off as pretty terrible, but somehow, I just couldn't stop liking her and wanting to read more about her. Her negativity came out in her reactions, expressions, and dialogue--all of which were funny and no just bitter--versus my having to read blocks of narrative about how much life sucks. She was nasty, but I wouldn't have called her bitter, which I feel like is the defining negative emotion in so many YA novels. It made her so much more charismatic and fun to read.

I thought of Parker too, but I sorta feel like judging 'negative' MCs by Courtney Summers' example is like that example that "this happeed to one person, therefore it will happen to ALL PEOPLE" as Summers is the queen of contemp voice. Parker's voice was bitter and sarcastic but it was very, very unique. I didn't feel like she was whining or anything. A MC without a unique voice who is just like EVERYTHING SUX all the time would be pretty boring to read. Be careful to stay away from looking like you have an overly complaining/bitchy MC - especially if they have no reason to be. The most important thing is to make them interesting (God, Parker is probably one of the most interesting characters I've read).

Maxinquaye · Mar 15, 2012

Thomas Covenant, the most whiny and annoying MC that has ever graced the inside of a multi-part book-series. Honestly, I wanted to strangle the whiny jerk after two chapters. Oh, and he's a rapist too.

But he did all right, as a character. The Covenant series is still selling.

Mari · Mar 15, 2012

Almost everyone complained about my MC in Midnight - those who love her love her; and those who hate her, want to strangle her with their bare hands, and there doesn't seem to be very much middle ground. I can't say that she was a "negative" character. She was a chronically depressed character, physically and psychologically abused, and a runaway. If she was bitter and cried a lot (and drank and smoked pot), then in my opinion, that's part and parcel to who she is. Someone somewhere must have liked it, though, because the book sold this time last month and will see publication early next year. :shrug:

DahlELama · Mar 15, 2012

Mari said:
Almost everyone complained about my MC in Midnight - those who love her love her; and those who hate her, want to strangle her with their bare hands, and there doesn't seem to be very much middle ground. I can't say that she was a "negative" character. She was a chronically depressed character, physically and psychologically abused, and a runaway. If she was bitter and cried a lot (and drank and smoked pot), then in my opinion, that's part and parcel to who she is. Someone somewhere must have liked it, though, because the book sold this time last month and will see publication early next year. :shrug:

This sounds to me like the difference is probably between people who can sympathize or empathize and people who can't. There are always those people who react to people suffering from depression with a "God, why can't you just stop being sad?!" or to addicts with "You'd just stop if you really wanted to!" and those people aren't your audience; they're not going to "get" your character. And that's okay--not everyone is meant to "get" every character, like not every person can "get" every person. If you have a "negative" character that you find a lot of people are responding positively to, there's a good chance you're doing something right.

DahlELama · Mar 15, 2012

The_Ink_Goddess said:
I thought of Parker too, but I sorta feel like judging 'negative' MCs by Courtney Summers' example is like that example that "this happeed to one person, therefore it will happen to ALL PEOPLE" as Summers is the queen of contemp voice. Parker's voice was bitter and sarcastic but it was very, very unique. I didn't feel like she was whining or anything. A MC without a unique voice who is just like EVERYTHING SUX all the time would be pretty boring to read. Be careful to stay away from looking like you have an overly complaining/bitchy MC - especially if they have no reason to be. The most important thing is to make them interesting (God, Parker is probably one of the most interesting characters I've read).

That's definitely true, I just think it's interesting to note objectively why Parker works. That said, I'm pretty much a Courtney Summers fangirl and I don't think there's anyone else out there doing what she's doing nearly as well. I guess the only other example I can think of someone who was generally fairly negative but whom I still found likeable was Jessica Darling from Megan McCafferty's SLOPPY FIRSTS series. Too often these days I want to shout at characters "WHY ARE YOU SO ANGRY AND MEAN TO RANDOM PEOPLE?!" but I felt like Jess was a very believable and relatable level of sarcastic and cynical.

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